14 Imperious Rex
by redcloudedleopard
Summary: The Storm siblings & Leopard X become prisoners of Namor in the fabled city of Atlantis. The Atlantean prince is no doubt a formidable foe. Even worse, impressed by Susan's eloquent pleas for peace, he decides to keep her in Atlantis as an ambassador.
1. Namor

"Johnny! Where have you been?" came my question.

"Well, I…uhhhh……"

"Tell me you haven't _incinerated anything_ today."

"No! I…kinda bought a jacket." I eyed the shopping bag he held in one hand.

You have to admit, he was a good actor; him with his innocent tone, "I ordered it, actually." Right.

"Oh," I was expecting much worse, "Then why so nervous telling me???"

"I'm not exactly keeping it."

"Why not?"

He fell silent for a while before whispering, "Shhhhhh. I'm buying it for Zed."

"Good for you!" I exclaimed without hesitation, "I suspected one of you would make a first move."

He then sighed. "Really?" he asked.

"It's not a bad thing, Johnny. When are you planning to give it to her?"

"I ain't sure. Sis, you think I can do this without looking like a jerk?"

"Don't you call yourself a ladies' man? Now I'm curious to know how your confidence plunged."

"If I _am_ a jerk, I'll be missing a big chance…to ask her out."

"I think the only way it will go smooth is if you just relax. _Wait_, come again? You're thinking of going out with her?" I smiled warmly at his decision. His relationship with Frankie Raye in the past had gone awry; he had taken her on a tour of Reed's lab & had opened up the Negative Zone. Inside that place, Reed's 'favourite' monsters almost had them for lunch. & so ended Frankie's trust in Johnny that he was a brave kinda guy. Later I found out she had even believed he held a doctorate! Working on impressing Azula would take his mind off more reckless things that might hurt our team's image.

"You like her, don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah," he grinned in a sheepish style, looking almost dreamy. My brother asked me for the second time, "You _sure_ I can do this?"

I nodded in agreement.

We walked along the boardwalk to get ourselves some lovely snacks – Johnny chose popcorn whereas I went for an ice cream. The queues were a little long but we could take it. As soon as we bought our treats, we headed for the pier & waterfront.

Some weird noise interrupted the low hum of people's voices which would be part of a normal day out. We were still far behind the front row of people looking out at the ocean, though. There wasn't a way to know what exactly was happening unless we pushed our way through the large crowd. Still, we kept our eyes peeled for anything to would demand the help of our powers.

Bursting right out of the ocean was a whale-like monster that would only mean trouble. People quivered upon hearing its deep roars & its massive size that nearly blocked out the sun. All of a sudden, a massive cruiser could be seen _hovering _in the air. Now that was a sight for sore eyes; the huge chunk of metal seemed to levitate.

A split second later, the cruiser was flying right at us! Luckily it was flung into the woodwork of the jetty without harming the people. Phew! We didn't have to chuck our food into the bins to rescue any victims. My guesses were that someone or something was carrying it, or some force was moving it, much like my abilities could do so.

Guess #1 had been the answer. Someone sounding rather authoritative could be heard issuing some kind of order. It wasn't a distinctive voice we knew from before, calling himself a name sounding like "Namor". Nonetheless, we had to make sure the guy wasn't too much of a troublemaker. As soon as we successfully pushed through the crowd, his apparent conversation with the public had lost much of its animation.

He was incredibly muscle-bound, & towering easily above the average man. Jet-black hair with sharp edges at the sides, sea green irises & sleek pants of the same colour were some of his features. & more peculiar were his pointy ears & a pair of wings he had on each ankle. Without further ado I pressed him on to stay for a bit – I was going to try out my diplomatic style of handling problems.

"Wait! We need to talk," I said firmly.

Unfortunately my brother had to butt in, "Yeah! First off - "

"_Shhhhh!_ I meant ME, not us," I stopped him, my hand over his mouth.

"But I…"

"Shhhh."

"But I was…"

"Shush!"

"No," I stuck my ice cream into his mouth, "talking."

Namor was firm where he felt himself to be right, "There is nothing to discuss. The judgment of Atlantis is FINAL." Immediately he had his back to us & he proceeded to leave.

So I tried again, "Wait! Are you really from Atlantis? As in the underwater mythological city? It's real? Like, really real?" As if by impulse I lay a hand on his shoulder.

"If you do not remove your hand, you'll find out how _real_ it is…," he warned.

"Ho, ho, tough guy…pickin' on a _girl_…," Johnny retorted. Once again I attempted to keep him mum.

"Right, sorry. Look, erm, prince, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Or fin. Whatever. But my point is, we share this planet. You can't just ban us from the water. It's our water too." I thought I was already being long-winded; still, the message had to get across somehow.

He wasn't going to back down anytime soon, "Humanity defiles the oceans with their filth. So you may no longer _have_ the oceans."

Johnny too wasn't giving me all the space to settle this. "Hey, giant ELF! What's up with your pointy ears, huh? & those itsy-bitsy wings on your ankles? Lame!" he blurted out.

"What did you say to me?" came the prince's warning tone, stern as ever.

"Johnny, don't," I whispered. But of course he went against me.

He blabbered on with a confident streak, "_I said_, next time if you really wanna impress us, don't wear your sister's pants! &, oh! & grab some deodorant while you're up here! 'Cuz that fish smell…nuh-uh…No good."

We were in for a VERY tough time…

"You missed!" my brother dodged Namor playfully. "Oooo, missed again! I hope you fight better underwater, coz this is embarrassing!"

I reprimanded him, "Johnny, leave him alone!"

"He started it."

"I don't care; just stop it!"

"Fine," he sighed.

I wish I had rebuked Namor too but it happened too fast. "This is what the wings are for, human!" In the next split second he punched Johnny, sending him flying (falling, rather) into the water. He had better had been thankful I could make a platform for him to land on right before he got wet.

"See what happens when you talk?" I barked.

He replied, "That's okay. I'm done talking!"

The two roughians were up in the air tussling again. Ugh. Just when they charged at each other at a very dangerous speed, I created a wall between them. To be on my guard, I hovered nearer to them on a platform.

"Such power…what manner of humans are you?" asked Namor.

I lost a little of my cool, "Oh, what, all Atlanteans can fly & breathe air?"

Namor then stretched out both thick arms, like he was generating or at least doing something to affect his surroundings. Moments later I felt that my power channelling was disrupted, in a weird way. There was this noise of really high frequency interrupting me, & I lost control of the wall I had made. My eyes were partially shut as I was falling. Surprisingly I was a little too weak to feel panicky.

"Sis, you okay?" my brother was asking me seconds later. Phew, he had been a good enough sibling to catch me.

"Yeah, except my pride…," I answered.

Next, we heard roaring that could only belong to Leopard X. Before we knew it, he leapt out from the crowd behind us, an amazing distance of easily thirty feet. It turns out he wanted to pounce on Namor. Both his front claws locked onto Namor's broad shoulders & he focused a laser attack on him. It worked. The Atlantean prince fell back into the water.

"Wow, I gotta say you're REAL good…," said Johnny.

Our friend told us, "Snow leopards hate water, actually."

"Ozai, your suit - ," I said, a little worried.

He smiled at us, "I was testing it, underwater."

"Oh," we two siblings said.

"Heed my warning. Stay out of the sea," Namor emerged from the water in a flash. I noticed Johnny gritting his teeth while I clenched a fist. Namor had iron will power. Ozai crouched like a cat would, eyeing its prey.

He blew into his shell-like instrument – the "Horn of Atlantis" perhaps - & summoned his monster companion to return to their underwater abode. Their last few splashes ended the tension everyone was feeling.

"That, well…well fine! You can have your stupid ocean. Who needs it?" yelled Johnny.

I snapped, "Are you serious? No – don't answer that. Look, Johnny, we have to reason with him & change his mind."

"Right, & how are we supposed to – no, no, no no no no no!!! There is no way I am getting wet!"

I had a full mind to **keep myself from the ways of the violent**. Whether the boys liked it or not, I'd go _diplomatic_ to resolve the issue at hand.


	2. Mythological Reality

I was thinking about Reed, Ben & Azula, whether or not they'd find us any minute. Whatever happened, they'd always make it on time for their teammates if we were going to have our lives in jeopardy. Yet I didn't want Reed in particular to be a part of this. It wasn't the underlying fact that he'd find Atlantis intriguing, really, but instead I didn't want him being a part of the discussion for peace. If only I could convince everyone in just one sentence that **peace would do the 'fighting' for us; all we had to do was practically be still.**

Namor might strike too quickly without being willing to listen to Reed. The thought of Ozai & Azula not being used to the danger level of certain missions wasn't helping, either. If anyone were to get Namor to even focus on the subject of peace, it would be me.

"Come on, sis! Please DON'T do this – I HATE THE WATER!"

"Let's get this over with. Before he breaks down," Ozai whispered to me.

"Yeah. I second that," I chuckled. I encased us three in a force field bubble, thus bringing us underwater. My brother kept on yelping throughout our descent.

"It's closing in on me….I'm running out of air…I can't breathe! I can't breathe! It's so dark…I'm gonna get WET…" I ignored him pretending to be delusional to try convincing me to take him back up.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" he gasped.

I gave it a go, "Johnny, it's going to be O-KAY. I won't let you get wet, I promise."

He was quiet.

"Now, do you think you could give us a little light?" came my question.

"No chance! You know there's bad stuff down there! The minute I turn on the lights, there's going to be horrible monsters all around us!" he said.

I muttered, "Fish, Johnny. There's just going to be fish. That's it. Trust me."

Leopard X backed me up, "My suit's light isn't enough. Come on, Johnny, if you help out, we'll be back home in a shorter time."

He had his armour's light sources turned on at full power, but our surroundings were nearly pitch black & we needed more illumination to see clearly. Johnny finally obeyed & raised a finger to light it up. We could still hear his whines & gasps. Compared to us, he turned his head anxiously upon seeing fairly large fish swimming about.

"You…are the worst sister ever," he muttered unexpectedly. I suppose I could partly agree with him: that wasn't a fish tapping my shield. The creature brandished a intricately carved spear, & had scales & fins lining its figure. Its dull yellow eyes fixed onto us as it said, "You heard our lord. No being of the surface world is to enter the kingdom of Atlantis."

"You don't understand. We had a word with Namor -"

"Silence. The judgment of Atlantis is final."

Leopard X was growling under his breath, lowering his head as he got down on all fours after he switched his armour's mode. Was he going to break into fight mode too?

I anticipated something could go wrong so I told him softly, "Maybe we should be more subtle. The Atlanteans wouldn't like us being too tense."

"You're right," Ozai stopped growling.

"Leave now, or else," warned the creature.

"But the surface world has not had a chance to properly consider Atlantis' decision," said Leopard X. That was a good move, for the guard was silent & didn't denounce us further.

"We are only representatives who don't mean your world any harm. All we wish to do is resolve this matter peacefully with your prince," I filled in.

The guard said at last, "Very well." There were three more of his companions below us, who swam up to hear what he had to tell them. Then their leader motioned to me to follow them all; we were to go deeper. Each guard mounted a fish larger than himself & they rode on ahead.

For a while things were nothing but a blue blur. Part of me was wondering about the underwater pressure – wouldn't it be building up tremendously? Like, to a rather hazardous level for surface dwellers to bear? We were really fortunate, though, that none of us felt our ears were going to burst or something. That meant my force fields weren't affected by external pressure. I was beginning to sound like Reed in my head.

With questions on pressure being food for thought for a while, I hadn't realized how the landscape (or seascape) had changed. Aqua-coloured corals that appeared to glow decorated the seabed. There were lovely structures all around us – towers, small houses, simple blocks of rock shaped beautifully – all seemingly brought to life by light rays bouncing off their surfaces.

I was personally fascinated, "Johnny, you should really take a look at this."

"Err, no, I really shouldn't because…this isn't happening…Nope, ha ha! I'm at home in my dry bed having a nightmare!"

We were approaching the prince's palace, at the heart of all the buildings we saw. The guards got off their fishes to lead us through the ginormous front doors. All curious Atlantean eyes were on us. There sat Namor, on a comfy-looking throne that reflected artistic talent.

"Namor," I greeted.

He calmly swam toward us, given that we had just met not thirty minutes ago.

His voice had an honest ring to it, "You have much courage, for humans." Eyeing my cowardly brother, he tweaked his earlier sentence a little, "Two of you, anyway."

"My name is Susan Storm. That's my brother, Johnny. We belong to a team known as the Fantastic Four. This is a friend of our team & ally, Ozai."

"Fantastic?" he said vainly. "Indeed. You were captured with fantastic speed. The arrogance of the surface world...," he smiled darkly, looking away to his servants.

I made a point, "Obviously you know something about the surface world. You speak English better than half my team."

"Hey!" squeaked Johnny. Ozai muffled a little laugh.

"And…from the look of it, I'd wager at least part of you is _from_ the surface world. Hmph, must be the arrogant part," I continued.

"My father was a surface dweller. _What_ of it?" said Namor, probably agitated.

I was taken aback, "What of it? You're part of both worlds, Namor – human _&_ Atlantean! It matters! All I want is the chance to convince you that surface world isn't all bad. There can be peace."

"& then can we go?" asked Johnny.

Ozai removed his helmet & helped me out, "Namor, if you knew more of where we come from -"

"I will not hear from you, _feline_. You had best let the girl carry out the discussion," snapped Namor in a lower tone.

Ozai had no choice but to nod to him, in avoidance of making things worse. I figured the anger Namor felt inside had resulted from Leopard X's attack on him earlier. Boy, was this prince arrogant. He would be a sore loser, too.

"My lord – we're under attack!" a palace guard by the door shouted.

An explosion broke the silence. Both the palace front doors were flung out of place; in the doorway stood our other three friends, holding up spear-like weapons Reed probably invented. They had special helmets & other equipment fitted on for battle.

"_Surface dwellers_!" another guard alerted.

"WHO'S NEXT?" thundered Ben, his huge fists clenched.

"The one with the sharp brows," Azula pointed at Namor.

I thought no one would ever consider the concept of peace except Ozai & myself…


	3. Bad Moves

"You ask me to choose between peace & war. It would seem that choice has already been made by the rest of your team," Namor concluded. He would charge without warning.

Uh-oh.

"IMPERIOUS REX!" he said those 'magic words' that he used when he issued the order back at the waterfront.

Ben muttered something about a Tyrannosaurus Rex, being the witty guy he was. He & Namor struggled with their evenly matched strength. But because Namor seemed emotionally charged, he could fling Ben to the other side of the room with ease.

Palace guards were closing in on the six of us; Ozai & Azula were taking care of the problem. I saw Azula swiftly attacking what she called "pressure points" on the guards' arms & torsos. Perhaps I should take lessons from her too, I thought. Ozai, in Quad Mode, made use of Leopard X's deadly tail attacks that brought a few guards to the floor in one go. I noticed his opponents shuddering at the sound of his roars.

"Now if you don't mind, I'd like to negotiate the release of my friends!" said Reed.

I wanted the fighting to end, "Reed, wait! You're not helping!" My head was heavy as lead, affecting what I was to say next, "I could use…a breath of fresh air…" The feeling felt heavier now. I had been holding this force field for about an hour straight – the longest I've ever managed. Streams of water burst through my shield, but I couldn't hold up much longer.

When my head spun to the right, something bad was happening before me: the sight of Leopard X attacking Namor. What had fuelled our friend's emotions to bring about the conflict?

"Did you hear him? _They'll drown!_ Drain the water THIS INSTANT!" Ozai snarled, pounding Namor to the ground. Ozai was looking out for us, but was overreacting.

I had to do something, but my stubborn eyelids slid shut. All I saw had turned pitch black, & each sound in the room seemed to die down.

I was lucky I had a chance to wake up, choking out a couple of mouthfuls of salty water. Johnny was doing the same when I opened both eyes. Someone had drained out all the water that filled the room to the brim. Ben & Azula were in front of us, each of them holding a spare helmet in hand.

My brother was complaining again, "You promised! You promised I wouldn't get WET! Look at me – I'm SOAKED!" True, I did break my promise. I was gonna apologize when Ben picked him up, telling him in the face,

"You're alive, too. Did you NOTICE THAT?"

"No!" Johnny squealed.

"Thank you," I saw Reed telling Namor. The battle between Ozai & Namor had come to a stop, at least. Leopard X was in front of us as well, saying nothing, & standing on four legs.

The prince then said proudly, "It would not be honourable to take advantage of their natural inferiority." His eyes were on Johnny & me. I supposed I understood whatever he just said.

Ben, unlike Reed, hadn't warmed up to Namor. "Who is this guy? & when can we clobber him?" he asked.

Before anyone could say anything else delightful to my ears, my voice struck the firmest tone possible, "No! No clobbering, no fireballs! Look, this is serious! Why do we always have to fight? Why can't we just talk?"

"Oh, oh, because talking – is boring!" (You can guess who said that)

"Everywhere you humans go, you bring violence & destruction!" said Namor.

Reed tried countering Namor, "& who's responsible for the sea monsters attacking the surface? Who brought that violence & destruction?"

"Yeah!" I heard Azula exclaim.

"Take that!" Johnny yelled. Although they both stood behind me, I think I guessed right that they were looking at each other for a sec.

But the look on Reed's face reflected hesitation, "Although…no one's actually been hurt…"

"You might want to re-evaluate that," Namor suddenly snapped. He had a hand covering part of his chest. Dark, long slash marks peeked out from under his palm. That got my heart racing. That very second, we all noticed how he glared very fiercely at Ozai. Which would only indicate a new level of trouble.

"_Your acquaintance here has just made a huge mistake_," he jabbed a finger at Ozai. Though his helmet wasn't removed, I sadly pictured his facial expression. "All thanks to your visceral response to the event where your friends were in danger," Namor's eyes narrowed.

Poor Ozai's metallic voice had a little fear in it, "I did not mean you any harm, I -"

Namor raised his voice, "Say no more! It is not wise wounding an Atlantean ruler. But I believe such a teaching is rather _new_ to you."

Leopard X hung his head, switching to Dupe Mode, "You don't understand. It was an overreaction."

"This doesn't have to be a fight, Namor. We can work together & find a way to coexist," I gathered as much confidence as I could in my words.

Namor went to his throne & sat down. "Hmmm, you impress me with your insight, Susan Storm. It is…unusual to find a surface dweller who possesses such beauty inside and out…," he spoke while looking at me in a weird way.

"Oh, well, uhmm…thank…you?" I heard myself stuttering.

He continued, "I have much to consider. My ban on humans will remain. But in the interim, the Fantastic Four may leave Atlantis & return home." He said all this with a finger he raised high.

"Oh, finally!" Johnny breathed in relief. I caught him looking nervously at Azula from his eye's corner. Must be thoughts about the jacket he was waiting to give her.

"But the girl stays," the prince startled us all.

I froze but mouthed out a question, "Errrr, come again?"

Asking for an answer was actually redundant; I thought I had heard him correctly.

However, Namor had given his guards yet another appalling instruction: to bind Leopard X in tightly & place him in isolation from everyone else. Ozai submitted to the apparent 'punishment' readily; I read his robotic leopard mask & it had guilt written all over it. We were quite shocked seeing him hold out both hands to the guards, who took them & wrapped rock-hard coral chains around the wrists. One guard demanded that Ozai remove his helmet, & he obeyed silently. A rock-hard collar was clamped around his neck as he was led to another chamber away from us.

Yet injustice was hanging in the air, I felt strongly. Wasn't it all an accident & no more? Surely Ozai meant well in his actions to protect us; the problem was Namor's vanity that blinded his view of many things. He possibly hadn't learnt a thing about forgiveness, which saddened me deeply. We superheroes were still in a tangled predicament.

Namor could have miraculously said, **"****Come now, let us reason together." **It'd be impressive for a grand ruler to **forgive someone, especially if that 'someone' did not know what he was doing **for a second back there. I could only wish the ruler had.

"We ain't really going home, are we?" queried Johnny with a pout. Namor kept clutching at his wound while one of two remaining servants reassured him, "My lord, we are fetching whatever we need to heal the injury."

"Tell them to pick up the pace," he ordered them rudely. I could do no more than let out a deep sigh.


	4. Discussion

We were alone in the large room, right after he chased the boys & Azula out. Looking me in the eye, he asked, "How many times do I have to repeat this: that Atlantean judgment is nothing but final?"

I replied, "Namor…as long as this tension remains, I'm afraid we'll only try harder to convince you to listen."

He sighed, "What you're capable of saying is most astounding, I must admit." He gazed at me from his comfy throne in that ever-so-strange fashion again, "You may speak."

"Thank you. First of all, tell me what happened with Ozai. I really need to know."

"Whatever fight ensued between the feline & I was _not my fault_," he looked in a different direction; his prideful eyes let some light bounce off them.

"But if that was the case, what moved him to inflict the…damage?"

Hesitantly he muttered, "He was concerned about the safety of you & your brother. When you lost consciousness, you two would have swallowed too much water to bear had I not drained out the water. Only after the misunderstanding with your reckless friend could I do so." Each note of his was incredibly vain.

"Didn't you just say it was a misunderstanding? Look Namor, we express our apologies over your injury, & we could say Ozai was at fault. If you let him go, I'm sure he'll admit it. But you have to understand - his intentions were nothing but good."

"& how can you be sure of that?" He stopped fingering his broad chin to focus both eyes on me.

I sighed heavily, further saddened by how he latched onto his arrogance. His whole face looked cold as marble.

He kept going, "Very well, perhaps I could reconsider my dealings with him." I knew well how much he hated saying that. "But you'd better remind yourself that he has committed an offense against the ruler of this kingdom _himself_," he added.

There was anger boiling in me, making it hard to talk.

"Now, more about you, Susan Storm," were his following words, "You would make a fine ambassador to Atlantis, in my opinion."

That's when I looked up.

I was dying to shout but kept my cool, "If you do not allow me to leave this place, the Fantastic Four…"

"Would be better off without you. Their safety would be guaranteed – safety from deadly Atlantean wrath, that is."

"What do you mean?" my emotions almost struck boiling point.

"If you do not abide by my orders, there could be _war_. Just so you know, I've grown very tired of the nature of human beings when they deal with the oceans."

I pondered what Reed mentioned a while back – something about more than one sea monster attacking the world above. Perhaps that 'war' was already being waged. If I was going to remain this stubborn, I might cause people to be harmed before our team would be able to step in. In fear, I submitted to whatever Namor blathered out.

" 'Me leaving' is not up to discussion. He wants me to be some kind of ambassador to Atlantis. But if I refuse, he said there could be war," I told the rest. They were in a room not far down a corridor that I was shown to by the guards.

Ben sat on an armchair munching sushi, & Johnny was walking along a ring of fire he had burned into the floor. Reed stood by the long bookshelves, savouring the experience of looking at them in great detail. Azula held an intricately crafted shell in both palms, inspecting it carefully.

"Well then, war it is! Coz there's no way we're leaving you down here!" said Johnny.

I cautioned him, "Johnny, don't be ridiculous! I'm trying to save millions of lives here." It was hard telling them this, "Maybe…maybe if I have to stay behind to do that, it's worth it. Isn't it?"

As expected, no one said a word for several moments.

"I don't know…," Azula admitted, striking a thinking pose.

Reed was the first to snap out of his thinking mode & answered, "Yes…of course it is."

Did Reed just say that? It certainly surprised me. But, secretly, inside me were rushing waves of nervousness. I was so uncomfortable thinking about Namor's 'war' plan that I'd buy any suggestion anyone came up with. I feared it was affecting my mood too. "Well. We should…go tell him, I guess," I finally said, facing Reed.

I had been convinced – I told myself I'd be doing everyone else a huge favour by giving up my old life to stay down in the depths of Atlantis. Hopefully, Namor would be pleased enough with my choice to release Ozai from an unjust prison sentence. Self-sacrifice was less painful than seeing the world crumble because of a selfish decision. At least, it seemed so to me as we all proceeded to the throne room once more. I felt a sort of **powerful call to surrender myself like a sort of living sacrifice.**

Reed took the lead in conversing with the prince. Namor began, "You are aware of my decision."

It was Reed's turn, "Susan informed us of your…request." It was as if the entire room held its breath. We couldn't predict that Reed would next say, "However we refuse to comply with it."

"What?!" we others gasped. The room shook a little.

I felt strange warmth inside as Reed explained boldly, "Susan is a highly valued member of our team. & while we want peace, you have no right to make such demands."

Namor assumed authority, "I have every right, human! Susan Storm will stay! Your companion Ozai has just lost his opportunity to break free of his chains." He ended his sentence on a dark note.

Just then he stood up & appeared to arch his back slightly. "You – Reed Richards – you had best watch your tone. You know not who you're dealing with," he glared at Reed.

The scene was beginning to look ominous. "Namor, Reed, DON'T," came my anxious voice.

Neither of the two heard me. "Nor do you, Submariner," Reed countered Namor using a similar (but milder!) glare.

The prince's face became quite severe…it was a clear enough warning sign for me.

"Dude, check out his ears…. Stupid-looking, right?" (Again, you can guess who said that)

Namor's fury was about to fly through the roof.


	5. Taming Vanity

"No!" I had to cry out. Yet Namor sprung for Johnny, who managed to dodge his long spear.

"Flame on!" Johnny tried snatching the weapon without success. No doubt, Namor had superhuman strength; at great speed he charged forward & upward to hurl Johnny into a pillar.

"Ugh, we're so terrible at negotiating!" I complained.

Reed said, "Well, to be fair, I only just started to."

Ha ha ha. I threw him a funny look before using my powers. Atlantean minions surrounded us, but were too slow for my pulse attacks. I knocked them down as quickly as I could.

Johnny looked dizzy, rubbing his head. Namor loomed over him to seize the chance to attack, when Azula put herself between them both. "You'd better have a good reason for cooping up my dad," she said to Namor. Both her fists were ignited in brilliant shades; her golden eyes gazed intensely into his. Maybe she was feeling almost the same as I, except if she was even angrier, she might have bore a hole through anyone she stared at!

She had been calm about Ozai's 'abduction' earlier, but I supposed it was far easier let go of emotions when you're engaged in battle.

Ben tapped Namor on the shoulder, then threw him a surprise punch to buy Johnny some time. Namor, who fell so hard he made a round crack in the stone floor, had almost cornered my brother.

"If anyone's gonna beat up Flame Brain, it's gonna be me!" snapped Ben. I liked the truth in what he said.

Azula joined him, "& if anyone's going to discipline Hotstuff, it'd be me!" She hadn't forgotten what was missing, "Or Sue." She glanced at me in a cheeky manner.

We could tell Namor was at the peak of being enraged: when he decided to lift a giant pillar out of its place! He screamed out angrily, bearing the pillar's weight with mighty hands.

"Hey, I do NOT need any beating or any disciplining!" Johnny yelled from where he was lying.

Ben was too slow to budge; perhaps he was shocked seeing how strong his opponent was for real. In a split second Namor's new weapon pulverized him. It'd take him a while to be back on his feet, we others thought.

Reed caught hold of Namor in his tangled grip before Azula, Johnny or I would be his latest target. "Release me at once!" snapped Namor.

Reed said back, "Not until you – whoa!" He was thrown far upward, back smashing against a coral wall. As he fell to the floor, I encased him in a force field 'coating', slowing his fall to minimize impact.

I grew really tense, "Okay! This has to stop!"

"I could not agree more!" responded Namor from behind me. He slinked further back – nearer to his throne; I could see him extending a hand to press something. A secret booby trap no one but him knew about, maybe? I heard a deep clicking sound as he tapped the unseen button.

At a scary speed water was gushing inward through the many doors leading to the room. Johnny would go crazy. He darted away in time as water covered every inch of the ground. Near the ceiling, I saw him hovering momentarily – right before he seemed to have discovered an opening. He fired hot streams through the hole I could not see, & flew through it. What if it wasn't too late for Ozai's hopes to be dashed? In a twist of really really good luck, Johnny might just find him & bust him out of his cell.

"Put these on!" said Reed with all his breath. Immediately he tossed a helmet to me.

Ben came up from underwater, looking about urgently. "Yo, Stretch! We got company!" he barked. Something, most likely a lithely swimming guard, pulled Reed under the surface. I could only gasp in anxiety; I admit I wasn't at all the best swimmer in the room, let alone in my team.

"You'll find I'm much stronger under the water!" muttered Namor while he circled us in smooth flight.

Ben stayed tough, "Yeah? Prove it!"

I thought I caught sight of Namor's sinister smile as he dived straight into Ben. They both disappeared into the water.

Ben could handle it for sure. I didn't want to take a risk so I floated up on a platform at a safe height from the water level. Below me, a few guards resurfaced to watch me go higher. Phew.

Moments passed without a single problem in the room being resolved, much to my annoyance. All this time, Namor had refused to buy any of my ideas at all. I had gathered enough energy to let out in the form of a very big ball of force. "I…SAID…STOP!" I howled.

A few of those around me were overwhelmed. Cowardly, even. Guards fled to far corners of the area as my field expanded at a great rate. I pinned them to the wall to make them immobile. Namor wasn't feeling too comfortable, either. In the middle of the room stood Reed, Ben & Azula who were now safe from harm.

"Uh, Sue? Force field squishing – owwwww…," I heard my brother's voice from my left. He was back _already_?

"Where'd you go?" I asked.

He found it hard to answer verbally, so he pointed at an upward angle. My eyes followed the direction & on a high coral ledge was Leopard X. I saw Reed signalling to Ozai to keep his distance. Johnny had made himself useful today, causing me to warmly smile.

"This ends NOW, Namor," I said with increasing confidence. Ozai was back in action without us having to fight hard for his freedom. Plus I was NOT going to be held captive in this fabled place. I reached full use of my power to trap the prince in a thick bubble within my much larger one spanning the whole area. I directed the thick shield downwards & made it disappear when it touched the ground.

My tactic? Bringing an excessively proud ruler to his knees.

"You _DARE_?!" said an appalled Namor. He picked himself up slowly.

I shaped my speech to make it hard as iron, "Yes, I do. & now _you_ will listen to me."

His expression hadn't changed as he felt the force field I had wrapped around myself. In a rage he began delivering swift punches to the field. Luckily I maintained my power with the help of controlled thinking.

"I can't stay in Atlantis, but I do want peace," I told him.

No answer. The punches felt much harder now. An idea entered my mind: I would deal him a final blow if he persisted in his arrogance. For me to do that, I retracted my larger outer shield to build up more strength within.

I carried on, "The Fantastic Four, Leopard X & Blue Dragon will help you. We will listen & work with the surface world to stop the destruction of your kingdom." In a long time, I hadn't said something in such a serious fashion.

"Strong words…but as I recall the last time you matched your strength against mine, YOU LOST. IMPERIOUS REX!" he lashed out at me violently.

_That does it…_, I was thinking. With one shout & eyes shut tight, I unleashed it all upon my adversary. I opened my eyes again to see Namor slammed against a pillar. He hit the structure with a sharp thud. He writhed as a result of the force that sent him hurtling backward. Boy, I was pretty amazed at my new technique!

The pillar had broken into large rock chunks, all falling fast. I was struggling to keep them afloat to spare anyone a bad experience, yet I had lost a big amount of strength. & I wasn't being quick enough to sustain the rocks.

"No!!!" yelled Namor, seeing his guards in grave danger.

I'd be blamed for the damages; I could see it coming, & the outlook wasn't good.

Not until a sudden bright green flash got my attention. & a loud animal noise. I heard clearly the same falling rocks hit the floor, except the sounds were lighter than I'd expected. No one groaned in pain or panicked wildly.

I could breathe out without a worry, for Ozai stood in the centre of attention now. He stood over a guard sprawled on the ground, as if shielding him. He had somehow blasted every rock in one go to save us.

With one more sentence I solved the 'Namor problem', "Those are our terms, but if you want to fight, I'll fight you with everything I have." Sacrifice was a beautiful thing in my mind at that moment; something special that'd prove my worth.

Namor's anger had died down. So had his overall tone, "Very well. You & your team may pass. Ozai is hereby freed of my penalty. & I will re-evaluate my plans on the surface world, provided you stay true to your promise." Of course we'd keep our word, I wanted to tell it to his face.

Not bad for going solo for a while today, I told myself. Namor then mentioned something that flattered me, "You are an impressive human, Susan Storm." I couldn't quite think up any appropriate answer, so I laughed a little, now that it was all over.

I was pleased I had made at least some of his arrogance evaporate away. **A person vain in his imaginations had his foolish heart darkened.** His judgment would be pretty much impaired by his pride. Not in Namor's case now, I hoped.

"Namor," Leopard X turned to him. Namor simply looked at him in anticipation. "Thank you for releasing me."

"Dad!" said Azula, rushing over to give her father a lovely hug.

Namor sighed & said with the slightest smile, "Anytime."

"Thank Jonathan. I wouldn't have made it out alone!" Ozai let go of Azula gently, struggling with her tight strong grip. He was incredibly right. You could say my brother & I, besides Leopard X, played the _bigger_ roles in saving the day.

Johnny probably didn't realize he was amusing us all - by pretending to be oblivious to what was happening. He was looking away & scratching his head, yet I clearly noticed how shy he looked. Azula walked up to him, & he wasn't prepared for a sweet killer hug either!


End file.
